Boston: Dramatic new images have been released showing alleged Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev bruised and bloodied with his hands in the air as he emerges from his final hiding place.
Cornered by police, the photos show the 19-year-old in a blood-splattered black jumper, with hands stained red and a sniper's laser aimed directly at his forehead.
The sobering pictures were released by Sergeant Sean Murphy, a tactical photographer with the Massachusetts state police, in a bid to show the real face of terrorism in reaction to the 'glamorized' image of Tsarnaev that graces the cover of Rolling Stone magazine's controversial new issue.
Murphy accompanied the Swat teams as they descended on a boat in the backyard of a Watertown home, where Tsarnaev sought refuge following one of the biggest manhunts in U.S. history.
Without prior permission from the Massachusetts state police, Murphy released a collection of his official shots from the April arrest to Boston Magazine, after Rolling Stone's depiction of the bombing suspect so outraged him, and many others.
He told the magazine, that having been a police officer for 25-years he was personally insulted by Rolling Stone's decision to portray Tsarnaev as some sort of rock star and that the move could spur on copycat attacks by people who want the same celebrity treatment.
'The truth is that glamorizing the face of terror is not just insulting to the family members of those killed in the line of duty, (but) it also could be an incentive to those who may be unstable to do something to get their face on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine,' Murphy told Boston Magazine.
He added of his own photos: 'I hope that the people who see these images will know that this was real. It was as real as it gets. This may have played out as a television show, but this was not a television show.
'Officer Dick Donohue almost gave his life. Officer Sean Collier did give his life. These were real people, with real lives, with real families. And to have this cover dropped into Boston was hurtful to their memories and their families.'
He went on to explain that photography was very simple and 'brings us back to the cave.'
'An image like this on the cover of Rolling Stone … we see it instantly as being wrong. What Rolling Stone did was wrong. This guy is evil. This is the real Boston bomber. Not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.'
Shortly after Murphy released the harrowing shots it emerged that he had been relieved of his duties with the police.
Boston Magazine editor John Wolfson tweeted at around 9 p.m. Thursday: 'Murphy has been relieved but not yet fired. Duty hearing next week.'
In a follow up tweet he wrote: 'Took his (gun), badge, computer and more,' and added that the officer has been ordered not to talk to the media about events at Watertown.
The bloody pictures of Tsarnaev came after the editors of Rolling Stone refused to apologize for using the controversial image on the front of its magazine, despite overwhelmingly negative reactions to the cover of its August 3 issue.
The iconic glossy has experienced a nationwide outcry over its choice of cover star with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino describing it as a 'total disgrace' and saying it should have put survivors or first responders on the cover.
MBTA Transit Officer Richard 'Dic' Donahue, who almost died when the Tsarnaev brothers allegedly shot him in a firefight days after the marathon attacks said, 'I cannot and do not condone the cover of the magazine.'
'Why are we glorifying a guy who created mayhem in the city of Boston?' Retorted Menino, before adding that he would be letting publisher Jann Wenner know exactly what he thinks of the decision by the respected monthly magazine.
'Why would we want to heroize this guy? He’s a terrorist. We don’t want him in our neighborhoods. We don’t want him on magazines. We don’t want him anywhere,' Menino said to WHDH.
The cover of August's edition is a self-taken portrait of Tsarnaev, 19, in which he looks more like a rock star than a terrorist. He is identified simply as ‘The Bomber’ and the article promises to explain ‘how a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam, and became a monster.’
Rather than issue an apology, Rolling Stone editors tried to defend the cover by claiming it was in keeping with their long tradition of serious journalism.
In their brief statement, Rolling Stone - founded in the 1960s by Jann Wenner who is still editor-in-chief - said their 'hearts go out to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, and our thoughts are always with them.'
'The cover story we are publishing this week falls within the traditions of journalism and Rolling Stone's long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful coverage of the most important political and cultural issues of our day.'
Pointing out that Dzhokhar is in the same age group as many of their readers, Rolling Stone said that fact 'makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue.'
The use of Tsarnaev as cover star caused an immediate backlash on social media and both CVS/Pharmacy and Walgreens announced on Wednesday that they would be boycotting this new edition of Rolling Stone from their stores nationwide.
Between them, CVS and Walgreens have more than 15,000 locations nationwide.
CVS issued a statement in which it said that out of respect for the victims of the attack and their loved ones, they would not be selling August's publication of Rolling Stone.
'As a company with deep roots in New England and a strong presence in Boston, we believe this is the right decision out of respect for the victims of the attack and their loved ones,' the statement said. CVS is headquartered in Woonsocket, R.I.
Throwing his voice into the debate Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick was more restrained in his comments.
'I haven't read it, but I understand the substance of the article is not objectionable, it's apparently pretty good reporting,' Patrick said. 'But the cover is out of taste, I think.'
MBTA officer, Richard 'Dic' Donohue, who was shot during a chaotic exchange of gunfire with the Tsarnaev brothers following the bombing was disappointed.
'My family and I were personally affected by these individuals' actions. I cannot and do not condone the cover of the magazine, which is thoughtless at best,' he said.
'I am confident that our Boston Strong community will remain intrepid and unshaken by the cover of this magazine.'
Tsarnaev has already attracted a gaggle of female supporters organized as the ‘Free Jahar’ movement who have posted comments on social media sites expressing their love for him.
Responding to questions from reporters on Wednesday, Thomas Menino said that if the magazine had wanted to choose anyone for its iconic cover, it should have been the survivors or the first responders.
This isn’t the first time this particular image has been used in the media since the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing, which Tsarnaev stands accused of carrying out with his brother, Tamerlan. The photo appeared on the front page of The New York Times in May.
However the cover of Rolling Stone is typically occupied by rock stars and actors, and many feel the cover is glorifying Tsarnaev, who is accused of killing three people and wounding more than 260.
The decision to go with the bombing suspect has been widely lambasted as tasteless. More than 13,000 comments have been left on the magazine's Facebook page with the vast majority express anger and displeasure:
‘Very un-American. F**k you Rolling Stone. I thought it was supposed to be an honor to be on your cover?’
'Whoever subscribes to this worthless rag should cancel their subscriptions TODAY!!! This is unacceptable!!
'I shared this on my news feed, but not in support of your magazine, I shared it to show people how low you have gone by putting this terrorist on your cover. Rolling Stone, go and read all the shares of your picture, there are a lot of angry people that you would make such a disgusting choice.'
On Twitter people have commented about said the picture of Tsarnaev looks similar to an old cover featuring Jim Morrison of The Doors.
'This cover makes him look like some kind of cool rock god... it's horrible' said another commentary on the magazine’s Facebook feed.
Why give the guy the cover of Rolling Stone? TIME gave Charles Manson the cover and all the magazines carried pictures of the Columbine shooters on the covers, too. Don't make martyrs out of these people.'
This isn’t the first time the magazine has featured a notorious figure on its cover, murderer Charles Mason was featured back in June 1970.
The cover story itself claims to be an in-depth life and times of the bomber which Rolling Stone contributing editor Janet Reitman spent two months researching.
She interviewed dozens of sources including childhood and high school friends, teachers, neighbors and law enforcement agents, many of whom spoke for the first time about the case.
The magazine claims that the article reveals a lot of new information, including five revelations about Tsarnaev.
As he lay in the boat, surrounded by SWAT teams and police, FBI negotiators mentioned a public plea for his surrender from his former wrestling coach.
An agent on the scene later told the coach that it could have been this name from the past – and the memory of that past – both of which were invoked during the standoff, that convinced Tsarnaev to ultimately give up.
Around 2008, his older brother Tamerlan confided to his mother that he felt like 'two people' were inside him.
She confided this to a close friend who felt he might need a psychiatrist, but Zubeidat believed that religion would be the cure for her son’s inner demons and growing mental instability, and pushed him deeper into Islam.
Tsarnaev's high school, Cambridge Rindge and Latin, is famously diverse, but he played down the fact that he was a Muslim.
As his brother and mother became more religious, he did, however, attend a small Friday prayer group that met at lunchtime, and once got quite upset when a friend who'd converted to Islam talked about it in a casual way.
‘Islam wasn't casual to Tsarnaev’ says one friend. ‘He took his religion seriously.'
Tsarnaev shared few details of his troubled home life with even his closest friends. In the months leading up to the bombing, his family had disintegrated. His parents were both living in Russia.
His two older sisters were estranged. Only Tamerlan, who was becoming increasingly devout and judgmental of all non-Muslims, was still in Boston.
When one of Tsarnaev’s friends asked to meet Tamerlan, but he said, ‘No, you don't want to meet him.’
Tsarnaev never spoke about 9/11. Once, though, he let slip to a high school friend that he thought the terrorist attacks could be justified, and pointed to US policies towards Muslim countries and US drone strikes and other attacks as his rationale.
Tsarnaev, who is currently being held without bail in a federal prison in Massachusetts, pleaded not guilty last week to 30 counts associated with the bombing.
